‘Currently we have established that the video shows local (Yakutia) residents,’ interior ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said in a televised statement, Agence France-Presse reported.

Writing on his official Facebook page, the minister for natural resources and environment Sergei Donskoi added: ‘We will strive for the most serious punishment for these scoundrels. Such crimes should be followed by real prison terms.’

Last year, in another video, a construction worker in an Arctic military base fed a firecracker to a polar bear. The animal roared in pain after it exploded in its mouth.